“Gabriel, we don't have time for this,” Sever said. “We need—”
“Excuse me, Severriel, but you are no longer King,” Gabriel interrupted him.
The room went silent.
“Well, fuck,” Killian said. “It's about time you recognized that. Isn't that right, Brother?” He slapped Sever on the arm.
Sever should have looked pleased. He didn't. I imagine it had something to do with the way Gabriel had said it. And the way Gabe was looking at me.
“Regardless,” Sever growled, “we need to go.”
“I'm speaking with the Queen of Heaven right now,” Gabriel said crisply. “And she needs to acknowledge who she is.”
“Wait. What?” Killian asked.
“Fuck me,” Star whispered.
“I'm themotherof the Queen of Heaven,” I said. “Using the Scepter doesn't make me Queen.”
“It makes you that and more, World-Strider,” Gabriel said.
“Gabe, any fairy could have used that thing,” I snarled.
“Your Majesty, you're misinterpreting the warning. It was given to us, those who might be able to use Anu's Scepter,” Gabriel said. “It does not involve the Fey. A fairy may be able to hold the Scepter, but they would not be able to use the magic within it.” He waved at Hunter Chung-ae. “Go on. Try to pick it up.”
Honestly, I'd kinda forgotten about Chung-ae. He'd gone silent, and I saw why now. He was gaping at everything. Just staring around himself in wide-eyed wonder.
Hunter Chung-ae blinked, realized he was being addressed, then said, “There is nothing in all the worlds that could get me to pick that thing up. It nearly killed the Ambassador. She screamed before she gained control of it.”
“Ha! You see?” I pointed at Chung-ae. “He's right. It wasn't easy for me. I didn't think I was going to make it. It was Anu who allowed it. He let me use it to save King Astaroth and Sever.”
“I don't think so, Your Majesty,” Gabriel said.
I rolled my eyes. “Then why could I use it?”
“You are Anu's childandDanu's,” he said. “You have the Light and Darkness inside you, but you also have magic from theGoddess. You are in balance and you are a pure soul. There are so many things about you that have combined to allow you to do what you just did. No one else in all the worlds, not even your daughter, can wield the Scepter of God.”
“I think you're exaggerating.”
Gabriel burst into laughter.
Sever took my hand, his expression gone grim.
“He's exaggerating, right?” I asked Sever.
Sever shook his head. “You are my miracle, Seren. But not mine alone. Not just Killian's or any of my new brothers. You are the miracle of all the worlds. The Light Bringer and the Bringer of Darkness, but also the Twilight Star.” He pressed his free hand to his heart. “Beloved of so many, especially the Gods.”
“All right.” I dropped Sever's hand and stepped back, unwittingly moving toward the Sanctuary. “That's enough. I'm not ruling Heaven after Sever stepped down. Frankly,” I sniffed, “I don't have the time.”
Gabe stopped laughing. “Your Majesty, you wielded the Scepter. That has never been done. You have proved your supremacy to all the worlds today. You—”
“I am not a supreme being!” I stamped my foot and lavender sparkles erupted up around me.
Everyone gaped at me.
Killian snorted a laugh.
Funny enough, those sparkles grounded me. When I'd first come into my Fey magic, I had protested in a very similar way. I stamped my foot like a child and the same thinghappened. God's Light didn't burst out of me then and it didn't now. It was my feyness that came to me when I needed comfort or help. At that moment, I realized that as much as I respected Anu, Ilovedhis sister. Loved her like the mother I had lost so long ago. I appreciated Anu letting me borrow his wand, but really, wasn't it in his best interests too? He wouldn't want to lose either Sever or Star. And I may have abandoned Anu if either of those men had died. Would I abandon Danu if any of my Fey husbands died? No. Never. But Anu was different. It had always been different with him. That's what happens when you're so standoffish with your children. Anu was an absentee parent. There, I said it. And I'd be an absentee Queen.
